Like A Girl

“The more time I spend alone the more I feel comfortable being alone.” – Lael Wilcox

That quote really resonated with me as I watched Fast Forward, the short film about Lael Wilcox’s AZT attempt, for a second or third time at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Not only did it resonate with me but it shocked me. You see, I have a tendency of putting other endurance athletes up on pedestal and projecting super human qualities onto them, in the process I often ignore the fact that they are regular people just like me. While their accomplishments are impressive they do not achieve such accomplishments without facing the challenges that I face myself. When I actually listened to Lael say those words instead of just hearing them I knew it was time to stop making excuses. If I really wanted to get into ultra-endurance racing I needed to start making myself uncomfortable.(more…)